Skip to main content

Eurovelo 15 - Day 18 - Rest Day in Bonn (kinda, sorta)

My rest day started with a leisurely 25-minute train trip back to Sinzig, and another leisurely 2-hour cycle ride back to Bonn. Drizzling rain when I started the trip, but ending in sunshine ... a nice ride before breakfast. 

The detour from the Eurovelo route out of Sinzig is a bit challenging ... if you try to use the rerouting function on your GPS! Follow the green cycle markers and you can't go wrong - but keep an eye out for them, miss one and you could be in for a fun morning. This detour probably adds 3-4 km to your trip but a really nice ride through town and farmlands.

Not too far away was Remargen. a very beautiful town with money, or certainly enough of it to craft a beautiful waterfront with wide paving with cafes and restaurants overlooking a nice section of the Rhine, and another postcard view of a small village across the water. The beauty of the landscapes over the past 3 days has been unsurpassed in terms of historical feel. If you replaced motor vehicles with horse and cart you'd believe that you were back in medieval times! 
 
 
 
The showers of rain have let up and the sun is peaking through in a couple of areas. Do I leave my raincoat on or take it off. Life choices!
 
 
I just finished commenting that the whole area looks like it had stopped in time a few hundred years ago, however as you move closer to Bonn, more modern apartment buildings are interspersed with old historical houses. Progress I guess! This area is just 25 minutes or so from Bonn by train, so it's probably a sought-after community living destination. The town, further back from the foreshore, has kept its traditional charm.
 
 
As I move into the outer suburbs of Bonn, at Rungsdorf, the bike path takes on a boulevard feel with paving and manicured gardens and trees. It truly is a great way to enter the city. 

The rest of the day is spent preparing for my ride tomorrow with the rearranging of my gear to take some weight off the back wheel ... all up I'm carrying an additional 23kgs (besides me) which are dispersed in front and rear panniers... 

I again walked the streets in the market area of Bonn. It's quite busy with school holidays still in progress. Most people are carrying masks outside and putting them on as they enter buildings ... although it only seems mandatory on public transport and pharmacies.

There seems to be an underbelly of social challenges here in Bonn. Drug and alcohol abuse, and homelessness, are very 'in your face' and confronting here. Not my favourite city ... with unreserved apologies to anyone who lives here and loves the place!
 
This is Beethoven's birthplace and although he spent most of his life in Vienna, Bonn claims him as their son, and he is commemorated everywhere! I did visit a museum dedicated to him in which he lived at some point in his childhood. On my way home from dinner I passed a church that was playing Beethoven - it did sound very good in the cavernous church! I sat and listened ... a nice easy to end the day.
 
 
 


Thanks for reading.
 
I'm doing this ride to raise funds for Blue Dragon Children's Foundation. I'm self-supported so all donations go directly to Blue Dragon. If you can give please do at ... https://au-bluedragon.givecloud.co/fundraisers/pedalling-for-a-purpose. Alternatively, go to Blue Dragon's website at bluedragon.org

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eurovelo 6 - Day 21 - Nantes to Saint-Nazaire (final day)

Mission accomplished.     We arrived in Saint-Brevin-les-Pins and dipped our toes in the Atlantic Ocean, after riding across France, east to west, from Mulhouse, near the Swiss border. We still had a short ride to Saint-Nazaire where we will spend the night and travel to Paris by train tomorrow. We've travelled over 1,300 km in 21 days, including 3 rest days in Nevers, Orleans, and Amboise. We experienced some of the best that France offers its visitors; cultural experiences, fine wines and food, and a glimpse of its history and heritage.   Today's ride ...   A few blogs I've read about the stage between Nantes and Saint-Nazaire described it as being a bit boring, however we found it great. Very diverse landscapes throughout the 65 km journey.   We started this morning with stands up at 9.00am, cycling back towards the Eurovelo 6 route on the northern side of the river. The traffic was chaos to us, however by the looks on Nantais' (natives of Nantes) faces it wa...
2 comments
Read more

Eurovelo 6 - getting to the starting line

So I'm travelling on this trip with 4 old and new friends. Two old friends read my blog from last year's trip and wanted to know when the next one was ... and so here we are! Col and Brett are ex-RAAF mates.  I've known Brett for around 40 years. I was best man at his wedding with Janine, and I'm Godfather to his daughter, Ashley. We've done many of my hiking and motorcycling trips together over the years. So you could say we're best mates. Imagine my surprise when we breezed through check-in and immigration at Brisbane airport, entered the lounge and found the open bar ... just to him utter friendship-ending words of, "I'm not drinking". We're now sitting in different rows of our flight ... apparently too late to uninvite him! Sitting in different rows ended up being my bad! With haste to welcome my new travelling companion, an older woman heading home to Birmingham, I asked if she'd enjoyed her holiday in Australia. "Can't wait t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Eurovelo 15 - Day 21 - Orsoy to Arnhem

So what I thought was a kid's sideshow alley was just a precursor for the main event ... a techno music festival ... just 50 metres from my room. I thought about joining the crowd, who seemed to be enjoying the spectacle (probably the musicians' parents), however, techno isn't real music, and their repertoire of 3 songs, played over and over, spoiled the magic. 11.34pm, 11.35pm, 11.36pm ... 12.02am - where is the rain, thunder and lightning now? 12.25am - surely someone has called the Mayor of Orsoy! 12.45am - hold my beer! Finally, all went quiet around 1.02am and I got to use my pillow! My body clock woke me around 6.30am and I'd arranged breakfast for 8.00am. The hotel didn't normally serve breakfast until 9.00am on a Sunday, however, they made an exception just for me! At 8.00am breakfast was served ... it was a feast ... I actually thought another half dozen people were joining me.  I felt so guilty not being able to put a dent into all the offerings ... then t...
1 comment
Read more